Michigan Couple With 12 Sons Parents Again, And It's A ...

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It’s a boy.

And that’s just fine with Kateri Schwandt, 40.

The Rockford, MI, woman knows what it takes to raise boys. When she gave birth for the 13th time – no, really – she was “pulling for another boy because that’s her comfort zone,” her husband, Jay, also 40, told ABC News.

He, on the other hand, hoped the new baby would be a girl, and that the couple’s streak of all boys would end.

C’est la vie.

Mom is doing fine after giving birth at 9:06 a.m. Wednesday, several days past her due date, to an 8-pound, 15-ounce boy measuring 22 inches long. And even though he was hoping for a girl, “one more boy is pretty cool,” Jay told ABC News.

The couple has never known the gender of their kids before the day they enter the world. Jay said he’s given up asking if he could be told whether the baby was a boy or girl ahead of time if he promised to carefully guard the secret, “but that never flies,” he told ABC News.

“That’s kind of what gets my wife through the delivery process, the excitement and suspense,” he said.

The couple now has enough boys for an entire baseball team and a bench – or, perhaps more to the point, enough for a governing body. Baby Schwandt’s brothers, who range in age from 22 to 2 years, and his parents decide together on his name. All but three of the Schwandt boys had been pulling for a sister.

Big Family Nothing New for Mom

The Schwandt household is busy but organized. Kateri grew up in a family of 14, so she knows what’s involved in raising small village, The Grand Rapids Press/MLive.com reports.

The boys all have chores and tasks assigned on flow charts.Jay, commercial real estate land surveyor, works close to home.

“There’s a lot of activity, a lot of commotion, a lot of chaos, but there’s also a lot of love,” Kateri told ABC.

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They’re all thriving. One of the boys has a college degree, another is in college, two are in high school and six are in elementary schools. The Schwandts told ABC News they wouldn’t have had so many children if they couldn’t care for them.

“As long as they’re all healthy and there’s no red flags, it is what it is,” Jay told ABC.

Kateri finds motherhood to be “very rewarding.”

“Your children are a little piece of you. Every day is Mother’s Day,” Kateri told The Grand Rapids Press last week. “They will bring me flowers that they pick in the yard. Even if it’s a dandelion, it’s special because they were thinking of Mom.”

Still, Dad says, It would be nice to know what it takes to raise a girl.

“I’ve got all the boy stuff a dad could ever imagine – sports, hunting,” he told ABC last year. “As long as we’re raising all these children it would be neat to see what the other end of the spectrum is like, maybe cheerleading and the father-daughter dance.”

Could it still happen?

“You never say never,” Dad said when asked by ABC if there’s any chance the 13 Schwandt boys will ever have a sister.

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Photo via Flickr